Mark's Photo Travels

Pinckneyville is an extinct town located about 18 miles northeast of Union, South Carolina in northeastern Union County near where Pacolet River empties into Broad River. The town was established by a law passed in 1791 that created the Pinckney District which consisted of Union, Spartanburg, Chester, and York counties. The intent of the town's designers was to create an upcounty version of Charleston. When Pinckney District was abolished nine years later in 1800, the population of Pinckneyville stagnated then declined as the county seat of Union took over in importance. In 1835, the legislature passed a law authorizing the sale of Pinckneyville's public land and buildings. While the area remained somewhat populated into the 20th century, Pinckneyville was finished as a town. The area is so remote these days that the nearest home is two miles away. The last major event to take place in Pinckneyville was the dedication of a stone monument on July 6, 1936 where the old courth...

Like Reid School Road, Ansel School Road also takes its name from a school that no longer exists. But unlike Reid School, the deed recording the buying of property for the school is available. A deed recorded October 13, 1896 in deed book  EEE, page 324  transfers one acre of land from S. D. Mosteller to Ansel School District "only for school purposes for educating white children" and also grants the school use of a well in the northeast end of the property. On September 26, 1919, the school district added more land to the school property by buying another acre from S. D. Mosteller. According to the deed in book 230, page 492 , the property was sold off to the highest bidder at auction on January 27, 1951 to an M. A. Mason. The property would later be divided into two lots, and the names of the roads passing by and near the school property would be altered. Tracing the subsequent owners of the land forward in time shows that the location of the school was near the interse...

In doing my research for the location of Reid School at the Greenville County's Register of Deeds , I came across a deed for Paris School in deed book 278, page 20 that I just don't think would go over well in the 21st century: ... trustees are to erect and maintain a substantial wire fence around the said property at least 7 feet high with a barbed wire on top so as to prevent the School children from tresspassing upon the adjoining property. Oh my! One of these days I'll have to research if that fence was actually built.

Most of the blog post below is wrong. Sorry! This followup post benefits from a few years of experience. Several roads in Greenville County by their names alone hint at places that no longer exist. Duncan Chapel Road is one such road, but I've co ve red that already. Reid School Road is another road named after something that no longer exists, Reid School. What little information I learned about Reid School was obtained from Greenville County's Register of Deeds website. The earliest deed I know of that definitively refers to the school is from 1923 in Book 76, page 170 where Reid School District #9E purchases land adjoining the existing Reid School land. Book 888, page 280  shows that in 1970 the School District of Greenville County sold off the land as a quit-claim. Looks like they couldn't find the original deed either! So where was the school? A  plat survey  for a nearby land places the school near where Reid School Road meets State Park Road on propert...